I apologize for the utter chaos contained herein. I literally have not had any time to look at my poll, and I don’t even know yet if some of the teams I’m ranking won or lost this past weekend. Help me out in the comments, I’ll watch more games, and everything should be sorted out by Wednesday.

Changes: Moved Illinois down slightly. Moved BYU down, because their schedule really does suck. Moved Northwestern in, replacing Cincinnati.

I still don’t think Auburn deserves to be ranked. Whether they’ve won or lost, the team has looked terrible either way. They’re not going to be ranked on the basis of “8th best team in the SEC is still the 9th best team in the country ROLLL TAAAAAAAHDE.”

Q: Of the four presumed national title contenders to go down this past week–USC, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin–which team has the best chance to get back in the race by the end of the year?

I’m not sure Wisconsin really counted as a national title contender going in, so the loss to Michigan seems to keep them out for sure, unless they completely run roughshod over the remainder of their schedule.

Florida and USC both lost to vastly inferior opponents, and the Gators had the added “benefit” of doing it on their home field. The Gators, however, face a schedule that is sure to give them the opportunity for several more quality wins over the course of the season. USC, on the other hand, is playing in the relatively weak PAC-10. Only their run of “dominance” (which really seems to have ended a couple years ago) that has voters constantly voting them high can possibly keep them in… and of course they destroyed former #2 Ohio State.

Georgia got completely housed in its home stadium, but at least they lost to a team that was previously undefeated, and is now likely to be the #1 or #2 team in the country by any reasonable standard. The SEC schedule (and a possibly-quality OOC win against Arizona State on the road), including a championship game if they get that far, more than gives them the opportunity to work their way back into the MNC game – assuming Bama stumbles somewhere along the way.

Q: But what does this mean for Ohio State? Are they back in?

They are back in, but only in the sense that it brings USC, Georgia, and Florida one step closer to having two losses this early in the season. Ohio State will have to be a full game better than any of those teams to make it back to the championship. It may not be fair for the Buckeyes, but in the world of college football, perception is everything, and getting killed in front of a national audience in their last three big out-of-conference games makes the Buckeyes comparatively weak.

Q: Did the week that was open the door for any of the undefeateds out of some of the non-BCS conferences like the Mountain West or the Big East? (Yup, that’s a cheap shot. Thanks, Virginia Tech for not allowing me to make it about the ACC.)

The door is theoretically open, but BYU or Utah would have to perform well against their non-conference competition (Utah has its last chance against an Oregon State team that just thoroughly dominated USC, and BYU’s last effort will be against… Utah State) AND beat the other team, on top of running the conference table. BYU’s non-conference run was less impressive, so Utah probably has a better chance to make it to the MNC game.

However, like Ohio State, these two teams are playing at a major disadvantage in terms if perception. BYU has a little more histroy on its side, but Utah’s season would be more impressive if they finished undefeated. Either way, it will require that no BCS-conference team is undefeated, and more likely that there are very few legimiate contenders with only one loss.

Changes from Draft: Bama moves over LSU because their resume is much more impressive so far, same with Mizzou over Texas. I moved Penn State up some because I simply think they’re good, not necessarily because their competition has been all that good (though they haven’t let anyone come close yet). Georgia, Florida, Ohio State, and USC moved within proximity of each other, and they are ranked as they are because USC’s loss was embarrassing, but they beat OSU, and because Georgia’s loss was embarrassing, but Bama looks right now like a really good team. Illinois moves down slightly because they do have two losses, but both are to top teams. Wisconsin is back in, because their omission was nothing more than an oversight by me.

I’m still not enamored with my ballot. Next week, I’m going to start phasing out the “hybrid” and go more towards straight-up resume ranking.

Games Watched: USC-Oregon State, much of Louisville-UConn, Ohio State-Minnesota, First half of Michigan State-Indiana, Most of UMiami-UNC, Michigan-Wisconsin (live only), A tiny portion of Oklahoma-TCU, Georgia-Alabama, Penn State-Illinois. Less than usual because the Michigan game wiped me out. Plus I forgot to DVR things.

Yeah, so I’m not particularly enthused about this ballot. Plus, I didn’t get a chance to watch as many games as I would have liked. So, let me have it, I know I deserve it this week.